US20210165166A1 - Connection structure of lensed optical fiber - Google Patents

Connection structure of lensed optical fiber Download PDF

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Publication number
US20210165166A1
US20210165166A1 US16/619,562 US201816619562A US2021165166A1 US 20210165166 A1 US20210165166 A1 US 20210165166A1 US 201816619562 A US201816619562 A US 201816619562A US 2021165166 A1 US2021165166 A1 US 2021165166A1
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United States
Prior art keywords
optical fiber
connection
lensed
optical fibers
end faces
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US16/619,562
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English (en)
Inventor
Naoki MISU
Toshihide Saitoh
Naohumi MARUYAMA
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Toyo Seikan Group Holdings Ltd
Original Assignee
Toyo Seikan Group Holdings Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Toyo Seikan Group Holdings Ltd filed Critical Toyo Seikan Group Holdings Ltd
Assigned to TOYO SEIKAN GROUP HOLDINGS, LTD. reassignment TOYO SEIKAN GROUP HOLDINGS, LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: MARUYAMA, Naohumi, SAITOH, TOSHIHIDE, MISU, NAOKI
Publication of US20210165166A1 publication Critical patent/US20210165166A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
    • G02B6/32—Optical coupling means having lens focusing means positioned between opposed fibre ends
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B3/00—Simple or compound lenses
    • G02B3/0087—Simple or compound lenses with index gradient
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
    • G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
    • G02B6/381—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs of the ferrule type, e.g. fibre ends embedded in ferrules, connecting a pair of fibres
    • G02B6/3813—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs of the ferrule type, e.g. fibre ends embedded in ferrules, connecting a pair of fibres for transmission of high energy beam
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
    • G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
    • G02B6/3833—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture
    • G02B6/3863—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture fabricated by using polishing techniques

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a connection structure of a lensed optical fiber preferable for performing PC connection between lensed optical fibers in which a rod-shaped GRIN lens is coaxially fused with a tip of an optical fiber.
  • such a lensed optical fiber is known as the lensed optical fiber in which a rod-shaped gradient index (GRIN) lens is coaxially fused with a tip of an optical fiber so that, upon connecting between optical fibers for transmitting an optical signal, the optical fibers can be connected with high efficiency and with a low loss (see Patent Document 1).
  • GRIN rod-shaped gradient index
  • a single fiber coupling (SC) type optical connector for a single fiber a mechanically transferable (MT) type optical connector for a multifiber, and the like are known.
  • the GRIN lens is formed with the same diameter as the optical fiber in the lensed optical fiber, whereby the optical connectors can be applied also for connection between the lensed optical fibers.
  • Patent Document1 JP-A-2003-227963
  • PC physical contact
  • the optical fiber and the ferrule are different in a material, and if the end face of the optical fiber is undercut from the end face of the ferrule by a difference in a polishing rate or a change in temperature, the PC connection becomes unable to be realized. Therefore, studies for realizing the PC connection with high reliability have been conducted so far by specifying a curvature radius upon spherically polishing a ferrule end face, an offset, an optical fiber height or the like so that cores can be securely contacted with each other by elastic deformation of the ferrule end face.
  • a lensed optical fiber In a lensed optical fiber, light emitted from the core is subjected to diameter expansion by a GRIN lens, whereby a beam diameter on a connection surface thereof increases. Therefore, a situation is different from the case where the optical fibers with each other are subjected to the PC connection. Studies on the connection structure in consideration of such a difference have not been conducted.
  • a connection structure of lensed optical fibers relates to the connection structure for connecting between the lensed optical fibers in which a rod-shaped GRIN lens is coaxially fused with a tip of an optical fiber, wherein the connection structure is formed into a configuration in which end faces of lensed optical fibers are spherically polished with a curvature radius of 2 mm or more to crimp the end faces with each other.
  • a connection loss upon performing PC connection between lensed optical fibers in which a rod-shaped GRIN lens is coaxially fused with a tip of an optical fiber can be reduced.
  • FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state before connection for one example of a connection structure of lensed optical fibers according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state during connection for one example of a connection structure of lensed optical fibers according to the embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a histogram showing measurement results of a connection loss in Examples.
  • FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between a connection loss and a curvature radius from the measurement results in Examples.
  • a connection structure of lensed optical fibers according to the present embodiment is formed for performing PC connection between lensed optical fibers 1 in which a rod-shaped GRIN lens 3 is coaxially fused with a tip of an optical fiber 2 .
  • the GRIN lens 3 to be fused with the tip of the optical fiber 2 is formed with the same diameter as the optical fiber 2 (for example, 125 ⁇ m), whereby a publicly-known optical connector such as an SC type optical connector and an MT type optical connector can be used.
  • FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are an explanatory diagram showing an example in which end faces with each other are crimped by a spring in an optical connector to perform the PC connection between the lensed optical fibers 1 , in focusing on a pair of lensed optical fibers 1 with omitting illustration of the optical connector.
  • FIG. 1 shows a state before connection and FIG. 2 shows a state during connection.
  • a length of the GRIN lens 3 is adjusted to 1 ⁇ 4 of an incident light wavelength to cause diameter expansion for light incident into the GRIN lens 3 from a core 2 a of the optical fiber 2 , whereby the resulting light can be emitted as parallel light (see FIG. 2 ).
  • misalignment such as axial misalignment and angular misalignment is reduced, whereby the lensed optical fibers 1 can be connected with high efficiency and with a low loss.
  • the GRIN lens 3 is to include a gradient index lens having no cladding, and also a graded index (GI) optical fiber and the like, and is not particularly limited, as long as the GRIN lens 3 develops a lens function by a gradient index.
  • GI graded index
  • the length of the GRIN lens 3 to be fused with the tip of the optical fiber 2 is not limited to the example described above, and can be appropriately adjusted so that desired emission characteristics may be obtained according to the gradient index, a numerical aperture or the like of the GRIN lens 3 .
  • the GRIN lens 3 may be a lens formed by linking and integrating two or more kinds of lenses having different numerical apertures for adjusting the emission characteristics.
  • a specific form of the GRIN lens 3 is not particularly limited, and upon abutting the end faces of the pair of lensed optical fibers 1 on each other to perform the PC connection, a beam diameter Db on the connection surface only needs to be larger than a core diameter of the optical fiber 2 .
  • the end faces of the lensed optical fibers 1 are spherically polished with a curvature radius R of 2 mm or more, preferably 12 mm or more, and more preferably 15 mm or more (see FIG. 1 ), and the end faces with each other are crimped to perform the PC connection between the lensed optical fibers 1 .
  • a contact diameter (diameter) Dc between the end faces deformed by crimping is preferably equal to or greater than the beam diameter Db on a contact surface.
  • a silica glass GRIN lens manufactured by Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Ltd.: SiGRIN was coaxially fused with a tip of a single mode optical fiber to obtain a test object (lensed optical fiber).
  • test object was attached to an MT type optical connector, and the resulting material was spherically polished so that an end face may have the following curvature radius.
  • Example 1 2.2 mm, Example 2: 4.9 mm, Example 3: 12.7 mm, Example 4: 15.1 mm, Comparative Example 1: curvature radius: 1.6 mm
  • curvature radius was measured in accordance with 4.3 in IEC 61300-3-30: 2010.
  • a number N was set to be 120 in all of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1.
  • the connection loss was measured and compared under the conditions in which the experiment was conducted under the same conditions except for the curvature radius.
  • connection loss is reduced and variations are also small in Examples 1 to 4.
  • a ferrule tip is spherically polished in a state in which the optical fiber is inserted into the ferrule and fixed with an adhesive.
  • the end face in order to spherically polish the end face of the lensed optical fiber, the end face may be spherically polished together with the ferrule in a state in which the optical fiber is inserted into the ferrule and fixed.
  • the lensed optical fiber may be held by an appropriate jig to spherically polish the end face, and then the optical fiber may be held to the ferrule to crimp the end faces with each other.
  • the ferrule may be for a single fiber or may be for a multifiber.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Optical Couplings Of Light Guides (AREA)
US16/619,562 2017-07-25 2018-07-23 Connection structure of lensed optical fiber Abandoned US20210165166A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2017143574 2017-07-25
JP2017-143574 2017-07-25
PCT/JP2018/027419 WO2019021982A1 (ja) 2017-07-25 2018-07-23 レンズ付き光ファイバの接続構造

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20210165166A1 true US20210165166A1 (en) 2021-06-03

Family

ID=65040746

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US16/619,562 Abandoned US20210165166A1 (en) 2017-07-25 2018-07-23 Connection structure of lensed optical fiber

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US20210165166A1 (zh)
EP (1) EP3660560A4 (zh)
JP (1) JPWO2019021982A1 (zh)
CN (1) CN110720067A (zh)
WO (1) WO2019021982A1 (zh)

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5528407A (en) * 1993-12-27 1996-06-18 Rohm Co., Ltd. Transceiver module for optical communication
US6899466B2 (en) * 2001-03-28 2005-05-31 Tyco Electronics Corporation Method of determining likelihood of optical fiber connector making positive contact
EP1419407A4 (en) * 2001-07-24 2005-11-09 Tyco Electronics Corp EXPANDED BEAM CONNECTOR SYSTEM
JP2003227963A (ja) 2002-01-31 2003-08-15 Fujikura Ltd ロッドレンズ付リボン光ファイバおよびその製造方法
JP2004029450A (ja) * 2002-06-26 2004-01-29 Nippon Telegr & Teleph Corp <Ntt> 光コネクタ
JP2004271894A (ja) * 2003-03-07 2004-09-30 Sumitomo Electric Ind Ltd 光モジュール、光軸調整装置、及び光通信システム
US7147384B2 (en) * 2004-03-26 2006-12-12 3M Innovative Properties Company Small form factor optical connector with thermoplastic adhesive
JP4925323B2 (ja) * 2007-08-21 2012-04-25 東洋ガラス株式会社 光ファイバコリメータ及び光ファイバコリメータアレイの製造方法

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2019021982A1 (ja) 2019-01-31
CN110720067A (zh) 2020-01-21
EP3660560A4 (en) 2020-11-18
EP3660560A1 (en) 2020-06-03
JPWO2019021982A1 (ja) 2020-05-28

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